Conflicting Messages
by S. Cordell
Summary: Takes place before Kurt transferred back to McKinley- David decides he needs to convince Kurt to come back. DISCLAIMER: Mild child abuse situations, and lots of gay things. Starting Klaine, ending Kurtofsky.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Reviews are much welcome—I hope you enjoy this! I'm republishing and editing some older stuff, so… here we go! All of this happens before Kurt returns to Dalton, etc. etc. None of the season 3 stuff ever happened and so on.**

**Disclaimer: Mild child abuse situations.**

* * *

_Hit. Slam. Punch. Kick. Run. Throw. Yell. _David has to do it. It's the only way to get rid of the rage that fills him. _Who does Kurt think he is? _To David, Kurt is some kid who gets to be secure in himself. Even so, he puts his pen to paper and starts to write the stupid letter. _Dear Kurt,_ he writes, his hand trembling slightly. _I'm sorry. I have treated you worse than anything since I found out that you're gay. But Kurt? I didn't mean to._

David crumples that one up, throwing it into the metal trashcan next to his desk. Or rather, the _dented_ metal trashcan next to his desk that his dad kicked when he got suspended the previous year. He starts the note over.

_Dear Kurt. Come back to McKinley. You're the only one who… who knows, and I need someone to talk to. I don't deserve you as a friend at all, but I'm begging you. Give me another chance. I want to be friends—I want to get to know you._

Everything he writes sounds so… emotional. And if there's one thing David is not, it's a sissy or a crybaby.

"Dave!" His dad's bellowing voice carries through the little house, blowing through like a train. "Dave, get your ass down here, boy!" David books it down the steps, his weight causing the banister to creak just a bit.

"Yes sir? Do you need something, sir?" He straightens his posture and quickly scans the room for anything that might have caused his dad to become unhappy. It could be anything. Was it the TV remote sitting on the coffee table instead of the side table? Or was it the magazine laying on the floor? Did David leave his homework on the couch again, or did he make the place _too_ clean (read as: gay). He bites the inside of his cheek to stop from flinching as his dad leans in close, the sour smell of liquor on his breath.

"You didn't let the damned dog in. She's been barking out there for over a minute," he says, his speech only slightly slurred; David knows he's been drinking a lot anyway. He walks calmly to the back door, letting their Golden Retriever, Macy, in. She immediately runs up the stairs to David's small room. Even she can tell when David's dad has been drinking. "Now go back upstairs before I find something else you did wrong, Dave."

Of course, the football player does exactly what his dad says and runs almost as fast as Macy did. The second he settles onto his mattress—giving up on the letter—his phone rings, the theme from SportsCenter. Without looking at the caller ID, he picks it up. He already knows it's going to be Phoenix on the other end.

"Hey," he says, voice flat. He corrects himself quickly. "Hey baby. What's goin' on?"

"Oh, you know. Homework," she pauses and David can practically hear her analyzing his words. "Is everything okay? Is your dad home?" Phoenix. David feels genuinely bad for her. They've been dating for almost 5 months, and that girl… she loves him. She actually makes him wish he was straight, because then he wouldn't have to break up with her.

That's what David's decided is the right thing to do. Break up, because he really can't keep leading her on like this. He's _gay_ for God's sake. He considered the possibility of bisexuality, but he isn't even remotely attracted towards Phoenix. He just keeps putting the actual breaking up off.

"Yeah, ah, I'm fine. Paul's home, but you know how that goes. What am I gonna do, right?"

"I don't know… hmm… oh, here's an idea—and I'm sure nobody's ever suggested this one before—leave. David, listen. You should just leave. He doesn't treat you right. He—"

"David!" the voice from downstairs thunders again.

"Shit. Phoenix, I have to go. I'm sorry, I'll see you in the morning!" He hangs up, but just before the line disconnects, he hears the faint 'I love you' from the other end. Great. He practically trips over himself as he rushes down the steps yeat again, just to hear the garage door open. It's enough to make him sigh with relief. Paul isn't nearly as bad when David's mom is home.

"David? Paul? How was your day? Oh!" she exclaims as she comes up the stairs from the garage. "Are you feeling alright, David? You look a little peaked… honey, go take your temperature." She gives her son a small hug before gently pushing him up the steps.

It's not like David's missing much, anyway—he knows that his dad will pretend he hasn't fallen from the sobriety wagon, and his mother will pretend she doesn't know. He doesn't even bother taking his temperature—he was white because he thought he was going to get his ass beat for spilling some dish soap on the counter. He just sits down at his desk again, to finish his stupid letter.

_Kurt—I apologize for my actions. I really need to talk with you. If you feel unsafe with me alone, I understand. Bring your boyfriend with you. –David_

It's the most honest thing he's ever managed to write. He pulls out his laptop and sets it on his desk very carefully—he saved all his money for it last summer—and starts up his email program. He types his letter out and sends it to Kurt's Dalton address, and then a slightly altered version to one 'Blaine Anderson'. David's barely logged into Facebook when the email pops back up. Blaine responded almost immediately.

_David, I'll do what I can. I agree that the two of you need to talk. I'm not sure Kurt will agree, but I can try. You were out of line before, and to be honest I'm not positive something has changed. Thanks. Blaine._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you guys so much for the response! Yes, Phoenix is mine—everyone else belongs to RIB, of course.**

* * *

"Kurt," Rachel whines over the phone, "please come back. We miss you! Plus I don't have any competition with you gone!" Kurt can hear Mercedes yelling something in the background, probably offended.

"Rachel, you know I'd love to. But… Karofsky? Sorry, it's not going to happen. Look, I really do have to go now—Blaine says he needs to show me something."

"Oh la la, Kurt!" she coos loudly.

Kurt's face turns red, and he looks up at Blaine. The amused expression on his face tells Kurt that he heard her. Great. "Rachel, it's not like that! Ha, it's online-oh. No! Not like that!" he hangs up and leans against the wall.

"So, Kurt, this thing I have to show you… it's a very special movie called—" Blaine breaks off, laughing into his hand. "But really, Kurt, read this email. And think about it." Blaine hands over his laptop, leaning against the wall too.

They're sitting on top of his dark blue comforter and all Kurt can think about is how his boyfriend sleeps here every night. _No!_ He reminds himself to concentrate on the email, but as Blaine starts to slump downwards his shirt pulls up slightly, and Kurt has to really focus on the computer screen. _No!_ he thinks again, but for a completely different reason. He says the word aloud twice, shaking his head rapidly. He can't do that—meet up with that psycho. No. But then something clicks. If he sees Karofsky again, he won't have the chance to hurt him. And they might come to some kind of agreement… and then Kurt could transfer back to McKinley.

_Nobody has to know how much I hate Dalton_. "Fine, Blaine. You come with me. Email him back, or something, I don't care. Let's do it." Kurt thinks he's being casual, flippant. In the few months he's been going to Dalton, he's been glad for the lack of abuse. But he misses his friends. The boys here are nice enough, but not nearly as nice as Mike Chang. And there aren't any girls here, and even if there were, they couldn't hold a candle to Rachel. He thinks about this as he passes the laptop back to his boyfriend. "Yeah. We can do a meeting."

* * *

"We're here. He's the one who wanted to meet, and he's freakin' late? I wait two and a half weeks for this meeting, and he's late?" Kurt scrunches up his nose as he sips his latte. Ten minutes later, David walks in to the Lima Bean, looking flushed. He finally spots the other two boys, and walks over. As he gets closer, Kurt can see a red mark on his cheek bone and a little bruising under his eye.

Kurt almost asks, but David shakes his head slightly. "Alright. So uh, hi," David starts, clearly nervous. He stretches his hand out towards Blaine for a handshake. "Look, Kurt, I have a lot to say. So please just let me say it all before you decide anything, alright? I'm sorry for how I've acted. I'm sorry I hit you and pushed you and said some terrible things to you. I know this sounds like a cop out, but Kurt I just…" he lowers his voice to a whisper. "I don't know how to deal with this jealousy inside of me. It's got nothing to do with me, not even you. You see, you get friends who support you, and you're so confident and you're comfortable with who you are and," he takes a deep breath, leaving a gaping awkward silence in place of his rushed speaking, "and you have a dad who-" his voice tightens and he averts his eyes from Blaine's sympathetic gaze, "a dad who accepts you." He swallows hard, his hand automatically going up to brush the red mark on his cheek.

"Thank you!" Kurt says loudly, not really thinking about what David said. "I appreciate your apology, and if you promise to leave me alone, I'll come back!" He knows he sounds far too eager by the way Blaine's smile falls from his face.

"What?" Blaine stands up, his voice falling flat, and goes outside.

"I have to go," Kurt says, throwing a five towards David to buy his own coffee before trailing after Blaine. Thankfully, he didn't leave Kurt alone with the person who has been previously committed to kicking his ass the past 2 years. He gets into Blaine's car and before he can even buckle himself in, Blaine's driving. Not a word is said the entire way to the Hummel house.

They finally swing into the driveway, and Blaine puts the car into park. "If you go back, I'm coming with you. You've finally made this… impact in my life, and I need you to stay with me. Whether you go to McKinley or Dalton, I need to be with you."

Kurt pauses, taking in everything. He knows he can't think of the words to express himself, so he just leans over the console and grabs his boyfriend's face with both hands. He kisses him square on the mouth before pulling him slightly over to the passenger side of the car. Blaine leans in, and before Kurt knows it, he's practically on top of him and his hands are going under Kurt's shirt. Blaine's mouth tastes sweet, and the bitter coffee makes it even better.

Within about five minutes, there is a sharp rapping on the window. Kurt breaks away from Blaine and sees Carole standing at the car door, a stern look on her face. Blaine pushes away, and moves back to the driver's seat, refusing to make eye contact with Carole. Kurt gets out, and leans back in to tell Blaine that he loves him, but Carole shuts the door before Blaine can respond. The moment they get inside, she sits him on the couch. Kurt heard Finn get the exact same talk a few weeks ago about Rachel. It involves a lot of warning, disappointment, and condoms. _God save me_. Kurt thinks.

"Honey, I was under the impression that your father gave you this talk, but maybe I was wrong. You can't just mess around with whoever you want-"

"Carole!" Kurt interrupts her, turning a ridiculous shade of pink. "He's my boyfriend! We were just making out. You can definitely let it go." Kurt gets up off the couch and goes down into his room.

The more he thinks about it, the less he likes the idea of Blaine transferring just to be with him. That could really easily cause a lot of tension between the two of them—Blaine shouldn't have to leave the Warblers for Kurt. He sits on his bed, taking his laptop with him and going through his emails. Like usual, he checks the spam folder for something that could have gotten misfiled. About 3 weeks down, he sees one from David M. Karofsky.

"_Kurt—I apologize for my actions. I really need to talk with you. If you feel unsafe with me alone, I understand. Bring your boyfriend with you. –David"_

How did he not see that one before? He copies the email address onto his clipboard and hits the 'compose' button on his screen. He should at least explain why he and Blaine ran out the way they did. _David, I'm sorry we left so abruptly today. It was absolutely rude of me to leave you like that. _He bites his lip as he writes, suddenly so inclined to pour out his problems to this… bully. _We've been kind of strained lately, and I doubt it helped that I want to transfer. _Too much? Kurt is about to his the backspace button, but then something pops into his head. Suddenly, all he can see is that red mark on David's cheek and the bruising under his eye and around his nose. Who at McKinley would ever get into a fight with David Karofsky? So he types what he knows he probably shouldn't, and then presses send.


End file.
